Time was a confusing thing in space, and the end of each day with the Blades was marked not by a sunset or dimming castleship lights, but by pure exhaustion that would leave Keith collapsing on any flat surface for sleep — often before his fellow Blade members called it quits for the day, much to his chagrin.
But here, in this cozy bedroom, sat a digital clock which currently read 3:34 a.m., and the Lance who sat across from him had been fighting sleep for hours — if the eye rubbing and repeated yawning were anything to go by. Keith had suggested Lance get some rest a few times, but Lance had refused. Apparently this Lance was as stubborn as the one he was used to.
Speaking of the one he was used to, he hadn't seen that Lance in a long time, minus a few video calls where Keith stood in the background while Kolivan talked to Team Voltron, or catching part of the Voltron Show in between missions with the Blades. Watching this Lance talk, with his hands in the air and his eyebrows flying all over the place, tugged at Keith's chest. He missed Lance. He'd missed all of Team Voltron, though, so the realization wasn't really a surprise.
They were planted on the floor, and Keith tried to ignore the fact that there was at least one chair plus a pretty large bed in the room which had to be way more comfortable than the wooden floor. Mainly because they were sitting directly under where Keith had been spit into this world, and based on the looks Lance directed at the ceiling every few minutes (Keith knew what Lance was looking for, and he didn't have the heart or the guts to tell Lance that the opening between their realities likely wouldn't be opening any time soon), Keith was already beginning to wonder what he would need to do to eventually get Lance away from this spot.
Instead, Keith focused on answering Lance's questions about Voltron. He began with Shiro's rescue (although he left out everyone's names, not even mentioning Hunk. This guy might look like Lance, but he felt too protective of Team Voltron to just volunteer extra information just yet). He skimmed over his time alone in the desert, before telling Lance about the Blue Lion (how it had reacted specifically to Lance), and what happened after their impromptu trip into space. Lance had listened with a mixture of disbelief and excitement in his eyes, except for the moments when those blue eyes had gone steely when he asked certain questions. That determined expression was so familiar, it had Keith's mind pulling up images of Lance in battle, of how focused he'd become when the team needed him.
Well, damn, he realized he missed that about Lance as well.
However, seeing these familiar mannerisms and expressions from Lance didn't make answering some of Lance's questions any more comfortable. First, there'd been that moment when this Lance realized that back in the space war reality, he and Lance were not a thing, especially not a married thing. Keith glanced at Lance's left hand again — he couldn't count the number of times his eyes had been drawn to that silver band wrapped around Lance's ring finger. That conversation had included Keith fumbling through his explanation that he and Lance were just friends. Not rivals — thankfully — and not indifferent towards each other — also thankfully — but friends. Just friends. Sort of — it's not like they'd had a lot of contact since Keith had joined the Blades, but he, personally, still considered Lance a friend.
"There's no way that Lance thinks of you as just a friend," this Lance had said, all steely blue eyes and mouth pursed into a hard line.
And, well, that had been an... enlightening statement. He couldn't deny the butterflies in his stomach, or the warmth in his chest, especially when that had been said in Lance's voice by a guy with Lance's freakin face. Although, Keith was quick to remind himself that even if this guy is another version of Lance, that didn't mean he understood all the technicalities and experiences they'd had in their reality. They were in the middle of a war after all. It was really no time to be thinking sappy thoughts about cute blue-eyed boys. No matter how nice that ring looked on his finger.
